Personal Responsibility for Health

During the debate over health care reform much of the focus was on how we needed to reduce the amount of unnecessary care in this country. Estimates of this "wasted" care are has high as 33% which comes out to over $800B! To reduce this waste a major recommendation has been to change the way providers are reimbursed, that is to shift away from fee for service structure to a global payment one. While I agree this is necessary, there also needs to be a focus on an individual's own responsibility for taking care of him or herself.

Is it right for someone who exercises five days a week, eats right, doesn’t drink or smoke to pay the same health insurance premium or pay taxes in universal health care for someone who can afford to chain smoke, eat out, drink a six-pack every other day yet can’t afford to pay for health insurance?

Of course, this is an example of two extremes. Unhealthy lifestyles receive little to no scrutiny but are detrimental when speaking about health care reform. In an ideal world, health care would be used for those with unpreventable conditions such as age, genetic conditions, etc. Health care reform cannot supplant the personal responsibility to care for ones self.

I’m not advocating a “no” vote for universal health care coverage. I’m saying that for it to work and be cost effective, we need to simply re-examine our life choices to decrease our hospital visits from costly preventable conditions.

During this tough economy, where many people cannot afford health insurance, universal health care is necessary to fulfill our basic ethical promise to help our fellow man, but we must first take personal responsibility in caring for our own bodies.